Ideas for Learning about Fish: A Look at Emergent Curriculum
Swimming back and forth in the tank in our schoolroom is Mr. Weasley. He’s a beta fish we recently adopted from some friends who are moving. He’s bright orange which is probably the most exciting thing about him, because honestly he spends most of his day hiding under the bridge in his tank. I’m not a fish person. I’m not really a pet person. None of that matters though, because my kids are animal obsessed and they are now fish obsessed.
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There have been hints at an interest in fish in the past.
There was the season where my son was in a “fishing club” at school that basically consisted a few friends who talked about fish and fished together when they could convince their moms and sisters that this was how we wanted to spend our afternoon. This past year he also earned a fishing merit badge at scouts which included learning about fishing in depth, going deep sea fishing, and learning to cook and clean fish.
Also Read: 10 Tips for Fishing with Kids
There was the snorkeling. Our first time was to see leopard sharks and the following summer we went to La Jolla Cove, a known local snorkeling spot, to see fish swimming in the reef. I’ll admit that it was pretty awesome seeing the bright pops of color under the water.
Also Read: Snorkeling in Oahu with Kids
Now there was Mr. Weasley.
Interests have a way of popping up like this in our lives. There are hints. Here and there an interest. And then they swoop in and pull all of a kid’s (or both’s) focus. They talk, read, watch, and learn obsessively about something. I have to admit it’s actually one of my favorite parts of parenting. The interests are rarely something I expect and they always pull us in interesting directions.
In this case, we swam towards fish and dove hard.
Ideas for Learning about Fish
Our interests have a general pattern to them. My kids (each different in their learning styles) like to explore interests in a few pretty predictable ways. After ten years, we’ve hit a groove (for the most part). I think we got here mostly by me accepting whatever random thing they were interested and then throwing any ideas I could find that felt meaningful around the house and seeing what sparked further exploration. Here are some ways we learned more about fish:
Caring for Our Actual, Live Fish
This was obviously where it started and caring for their little orange fish was a big part of this learning unit. They fed him, learned how to clean his tank, watched his movements obsessively.
Books about Fish
A Place for Fish
by Melissa Stewart
Find Online
How do Fish Breathe Underwater
also by Melissa Stewart
Find Online
Hello Fish: Visiting the Coral Reef
by Sylvia A. Earle
Find Online
Papa’s Mechanical Fish
by Candace Fleming
Find Online
Ocean Anatomy Activity Book by Julia Rothman – this is part of the gorgeous Anatomy series. It has several fun pages about fish and is packed with all kinds of ocean animal learning and fun. Find Online
Fishy Watercolors
I have pretty art enthusiastic kids and so art is often part of our learning. In this case, watercolors felt like an appropriate medium for representing fish. We did this a few times.
Materials:
- Mat for under paper or other table covering
- Paper towels
- Watercolors
- Watercolor Paper
- Paint Brushes
- Cups for Water
- Pencils or Black tipped pens
- Pictures of fish or close proximity to a tank of fish (optional)
Invitation:
When we do art it is rarely the “everyone come to the table so we can paint” variety. I like to set up an invitation – a spot for each kid to work and some sort of visual prompt – and let that spark their interest. If they’re interested, then it often stays out for a few days or is set out again multiple days (depending on our currently home size / table situation). In this case I set out our Outdoor School: Animal Watching book and some other fish book near the fish tank with the supplies listed above.
Nighttime Fish Habitat Check
We have been using the Outdoor School series to inspire some of our learning about outside, including animals. (You can read more about how we used Outdoor School books last year in Fourth Grade in this post).
When we started reading about fish in Outdoor School: Animal Watching my kids were super excited to do this Nighttime Fish Habitat Check.
Directions:
- Prep your flashlight in a bag, with rocks if needed.
- Plan where to go. We went to the bay because we snorkeled there recently and saw a couple fish and a stingray. We also found it helpful that where we could go on a bridge to get above the water a little, but we did see some fish wading into the water as well.
- Put on weather appropriate clothes and bring towels (these dock & bay quick dry towels are my favorites)
- Further directions for the habitat check are in the OUTDOOR SCHOOL guide, but it’s pretty straightforward.
More Fish Field Trips
Most of these field trips were repeated multiple times during our unit or period of learning about fish. Come back to the things they enjoy. Repeat things that are interesting. Talk about them and see what new questions they have and then head back.
- Snorkeling in the ocean
- Aquarium Field Trip
- Pet Store
- Coi Fish Pond at the Japanese Friendship Garden
You May Also Like: How to Use an Adventure Journal on Field Trips
